Yunnan, Sichuan, Gansu, Qinhai, XinJiang (YSGQX) Ride

[MeowZeDong]

Sadly, the bike I had was already trashed. I didn't do most of the work to it. I laid it down a couple of times but only the last one was the most severe. The bike had been used prior on adventures through Thailand, Laos, etc and had tons of mileage. When I received it, it was completely beat up and I had to put work into it and work into fixing it at each stop. : /

Szu-Ting, I'm happy that you and Dave made it out just fine and enjoyed the ride! I'm looking forward to reading your blog and seeing the amazing photos. :)

[szuting]

Dear Ting Ting,

However, just can't stop wondering about your frame of mind when you first decided to launch your grand motorcycle tour of Tibet without any prior experience of motorcycling but a couple of motorcycle "classes" under your belt and a brand new over-sized Mortar in a totally strange landscape.

milton,

thank you for your comment. You asked a great question, and actually many people have asked me the same question. :)

there's always the first time and it just turned out my first time was probably a bit more rough than it should be but it also added much fun to the journey. Looking back, I had new element to taste every single day and I couldn't have asked for more!

I didn't have much time to learn motorcycling between the time Christine asked me to join this journey and the actual riding. I know little about motorcycles but I know China. Besides, Mandarin is my native language and I have a cell phone and friends in China. To me, I was always close to civilization while many of my extended outdoor trips I didn't see other people except for my teammates for the whole month. I tried my best to plan boldly and execute the plan carefully and conservatively. I could have done more planning and practicing but still I needed to execute the plan at some point. I had prepared myself that it would be a rough ride and the journey was actually better than I expected so I am happy. :)

[euphonius]

Dear Ting Ting,

Thank you so much for your wonderful surprise post. Your original posts with MZD raised a lot of armchair expectations, and it was Felix who gave voice to our confusion and concern about your absence from MZD's awesome adventure. Now to learn that you, too, were out there having your own awesome adventure is almost too much to take! Perhaps the two of you will never sate our curiosity about why the joint ride became separate rides, but I've been around long enough to know better than to stress over that.

I've only taken a glimpse at your Chinese blog, and will jump in when I have time (while awaiting your English posts!), but it seems no overstatement to say you too pulled off an amazing feat, all the more impressive, as Milton notes, in view of your relative inexperience as a rider.

Again, not wanting to overdo the "girls on bikes" thing, and not wanting to take away from Pat's amazing solo ride, the three of you are, in your separate ways, blessing us all with accounts of amazing feats of solo touring in some of China's most wonderfully challenging places.

And yet it seems clear too that we indeed have two "girls on bikes" who indeed did utterly trash their respective Galaxies beyond the point of rideability. That's something you can brag about for the rest of your life! And the fact that Galaxy sandbagged you with substandard bikes makes it no less impressive; quite the opposite, since you both took those bikes far beyond what anyone might reasonably expect of them, managed to keep them on the road despite their flaws, and still shredded them in the process.

(Note to Galaxy: 活该!!! Take that! Maybe next time you sponsor some "girls on bikes", just maybe you should consider giving them the best bikes in your stable, rather than the worst, so that maybe, just maybe, the bikes just MIGHT have a chance of surviving the ride and therefore enhancing your reputation as a motorbike maker, rather than leading the bike-loving world to the conclusion that you are just cheapskate misogynists... But I digress.)

All in all, counting newb Lulu and her 100 Day ride with Jeremy in the mix, this is a banner year for "girls on bikes" in China, and, hence, of course, for motorbikes in China without respect to gender. I (who nobody bothers to designate as a "guy on a bike") would be honored and humbled to ride with the three of you anywhere, anytime. And I do hope I get the chance!

All I can say, once again, is:
一磕头
二磕头
三磕头

cheers!

[MeowZeDong]

A few final thoughts before continuing my trip account, June 12:

My presence was temporary. Befitting for the Tibetan theme. In that short time, I experienced laughing with the children, soaring high over mountains that I gazed so admiringly upon, I feared much of the unknown, I battled with the day’s challenges but still felt victory at the day’s end. I cried. Oh, yeah, I cried. Only a couple times though..... okay?

I feel that I'm going through the withdrawals from such an incredible event. Although it was cut short and I only amounted to a measly 1,200 kilometers on the road (less than what I’ve ridden on a US trip, unfortunately) I actually don’t feel too bothered because it was all that mileage of time in between that 1,200 that was the vein that lead to the heart of the real journey seeking knowledge and experience. 1,200 kilometers couldn’t even cover the ground of learning that I was exposed to – from Bai, Dai, Naxi and Tibetan cultures – along with brief exposure to the Yi; meeting foreigners outside of China entrenched in the same wonderment of being in a new place and transcending the road, my mouth explored flavorful cities along the way such as Spicy, Sour, Sweet, Salty and “Hua Jiao” which deserves a province of its own actually if you know what it is. Those 1200 kilometers expanded my vocabulary with so many new Chinese words that I can now sound a bit intelligent (just a bit) and to the point that I can make word play out of my sentences (one of my favorite forms of communication). My eyes were enriched by the environment; land so pristine and undamaged fed fertile soil to my sights to grow my new recognition of China’s west, as opposed to the overcrowded, developed terminal land of China’s east. It brought hope to me although I was quick to notice the nearest bulldozer at rest or the initial building blocks set as a foundation even in the most remote parts. My hands touched love – from grasping and ushering in the throttle of my first leg to cupping my bunny lovingly to show the fragile creature that life can be pleasure and ultimately, to male form - something I truly didn't expect. Although all events have passed and gone – my fingers still feel the framework of the adventure and what I built it to up to be.

So yeah, to say I am worried that I only traversed 1,200km pales on my list of top worries as I chose to stay longer in certain areas – sometimes unchose it as weather was a factor (snow/rain). I lived it on the road. Got sick 5 times. Flounced a couple times on the road. And didn’t die 1 time. I’m alive and able to share it. I've come out of it changed forever.....and safe. Am so grateful for it.

-------------------------------

Shangrila ----- Xiangcheng, May 27

The beginning of my third leg had me exhausted before it all began. All I could think about was eating chicken with vengeance after a 6am wake-up call from a rooster. I tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t so got up to do route research and double-check on information.

I had been eager to start, however was not feeling energized for the trip. That evening had seen a loud thunderstorm that stirred me from rest besides the early morning beak alarm. The combination of that, along with my doubts on fuel stops along some of the greater stretches of my routes and the fear of more crazy interactions with drivers all set up to blow up my courage. The fear was grappling with me but I wouldn’t let it get far. I called up a dear friend for support. I cried. I did. I had been in contact with almost no one but that morning I decided to call my dad and my mom to finally say hello. I live a loner life and they are pretty used to it when they haven't heard from me. I got ready to leave and then I was.....well, ready.

Before I left, I picked up my bike from my friend Kevin's garage. After meeting with Kevin Slasky two nights before during a slew of celebratory introductions at his beautifully built Tibetan residence, I felt safely armed with information. Yesterday, I had picked Kev up and he hopped on the back of the XTR-250 with me to visit his mechanic friend. I got the oil changed (I changed it at every stop for a measly 50yuan) and had the bike checked.

“Man, you need to slow down girl!” Kev said as we were heading back and stopping for a quick meal infested with all sorts of yak meat. He asked to try out my bike as we rode back into the gu chun (old town). I suspected I had frightened him with my piloting although I felt totally comfortable and I had ridden men much larger than his frame on the back of my bike (but not a bike so tall actually – which felt the same as long as it was moving).

“I’m driving too fast?” I asked.

“Well…..yeah… for China! And none of that weaving in and out in the cities…I tell you…you just never know when a car is gonna come out and BAM!” he said in his animated Kevin-talk.

“Okay…ok, thanks….” and I began to think of each “incident” I had up to then. First, was the 6-foot drop off the road, which was not due to speed but due to not familiarizing with the balance of the bike when I dismounted to take some photos I honestly felt that was one of the best lessons I could have had early on in the flatlands surrounding Dali because by the time I reached the mountains, if I had parked to the right on the shoulder, stepped off the bike and it had gone off-balance, I would have rolled off the 4,000meter cliffs. I couldn’t have been more grateful for this lesson so early on as it created a careful consciousness of how I would dismount and park my bike EACH time.

I thought of the ride in the rain when the massive work truck was coming at me and how I swiped and slid quickly, nearly having my helmeted head crushed by the back tire of the truck. I was going too fast – I know it. Even though it was the truck’s fault and he was not in his lane, if I had been going slower, I believe I could have prevented the whole thing; so lucky I had been uninjured from that and the next incident where, driving without my front brakes on rough road, my boot couldn’t feel the back brake and I again, nearly slid into an oncoming truck. Going too fast.

I thought of the near-misses from coming around the tight turns of the mountain passes, these trucks just didn’t see me…wtf was their problem?

It must be my speed – which really wasn’t fast at at all at 40, 50 and 60kmh! I’m making pretty good time but it’s becoming a deathly situation. I am so used to having my 600 underway and at a pedal’s push, accelerating smoothly. I would go as slow as possible at this point around the blind curves – and I noticed that it eventually helped. Oncoming traffic had time to avoid me although I was at a snail’s pace on the turns and now had less time to stop and shoot photos.

I left Kevin that morning after having had a great stay in Shangrila with the help of his gathering where I met other riders (Jason Lees if anyone knows? And many other people that work for NGO’s and also students/post-doc folks – very fun bunch) and also saying good bye to a Russian couple travelling the world for several years that I had been sightseeing with.

I drove out toward the center of ZhongDian’s town. My northbound path was marked by a regal horse statue that I would make a right at and continue on for the longest leg yet (over 200km). The first 30-40km was beautiful. I lit up from the remote mountain passes….I felt energized now. There wasn’t much traffic. One thing however, the roads were more narrow and the oncoming traffic was still driving ridiculously fast around the thin bends. I can’t believe how people play Russian roulette like that, as I said, they drive in the center and even to the left on the road. I’ve learned, however my own mistake and was now driving slower on those bends.

I was in awe of all the work that had been done cutting the roads into the mountains. I could see them extend forever…like how you look into the face of a mirror being reflected by another mirror. You can look at yourself infinitely. That’s how I saw these mountains and that thin, unending line, my path, that was tattooed into its emerald skin. I saw very few cars/buses/trucks…although I did see them. After one stretch of smooth road, I hit dirt. Pebbles, rocks, pits, bumps, dust were all part of the mosaic path. By then, I had to hit 14-20kph in some parts. Got up to 40 in some parts. It was just continuous bumping and grinding for over 80km. I couldn’t decide which had deceived me. Was it the horrible path that enticed me to see the beauty of the mountains? Or was it the mountains that had invited me onto that burly path? Either way, it ended up balancing because once I got up and up and up and was higher than most of the peaks, my vision just exploded with the regal beauty of our natural earth. God, it was beautiful. No wonder that religions believe a God exists….no wonder people have worshipped God with celebrating in the Earth’s natural environment…whether it be the Atacamanean groups that gave up their dead to volcanoes, or Tibetan villagers that send their dead off into a lake they’ve made “sacred”. No wonder people have been so inspired to assigning such religious importance to nature and associating it with such environments.

I continued on my journey in a pattern of beautiful weather,uneven path and a spatter of systems that didn’t drench me all the way through. I felt lucky the day was working for me and thankfully, due to climbing my forearms weren't feeling the pain that I would otherwise have. My ass was the real victim in this case as it took to cushioning each surly stone’s and problematic pit’s jarring but the view – the view took all of those distractions away eventually as I passed areas laced with prayer flags blessing my journey and I continuously ascended up and up to about 4,000m. I was well above the valleys, admiring nature’s work with great vehemence. I felt my small existence in this immense world from this platform.

During the descent, I glided down in neutral for kilometers at a time and enjoyed the silence with just the wind whispering its welcomes and “jia yo”s through my foreign presence. Thank you for allowing me to be here is what I whispered back in my mind.

Solo remote riding such as this has its rewards. There are great risks definitely present – what if I should need help? But at the same time, the quiet that cushions you allows you the deafness from your own thoughts and emotions. Your inner thoughts scream at you as there is no one else to chatter with – there are no cars causing backed up traffic from conversations with yourself. There is nothing more freeing it seems.

After about 160km I’m estimating, I had descended to a bridge and a well-worn, beautiful rustic Tibetan village. Dusk was soon to come and I was about 40km from XiangCheng it seemed. But OH! There was an adorable, sweet little boy that crossed my road to peer at me curiously.
“Ni hao?” I greeted.
“Ni hao……” he mimicked in a way that made me thing he just liked the sound of it.
He continued to say it over and over which confirmed it. At about three years old, he was just too cute to leave immediately. I took out a Snickers bar…a little fattening piece of America’s obese infatuation with sugar (terrible, I know) and let the chocolate goodie land in his grasping palm.
I continued to pelt him gently with easy Mandarin conversation but it seemed he didn’t understand at all. He examined the wrapped bar and instinctively used his teeth to attempt to open it. He didn’t manage to open it but did manage to run back to his home and voice his exotic endowment to his family who came out to greet me. I observed them for a little bit but realized that daylight was slipping away through the cracks of my concern for time and competing interest to stay. I’d best be on my way. At this point, I had just come off of an excruciating high (must be the altitude?) and really didn’t care if I had to ride in the dark or camp out.

The scenery began to change from remote to dotted with white, blocked habitats – Tibetan villages – all slightly different in each of its own ways. I was in absolute awe. This was my first day riding amongst the villages and along with the traditional homes, surrounding them were flat plots of virescent fields and a large river that darted next to it to outline its life-inducing presence. I was in LOVE. Speechless. Awed.

As I continued on, the road turned back to dirt as camps of workers took to the side of my path and then it was black. I had no working headlight. Shit, okay. That would have been nice to know. I tried turning on the highbeam and that at least worked but I had to keep one of my fingers pressed upon the lever while I negotiated harmony with the clutch and steering. I finally hit deep pits and dirt at one part where a work truck was in front of me and cars were in the back. I had stopped traffic as I struggled trying to keep the light on, get through this narrow ditches and over big rocks – it got a bit hairy but at the same time, it wasn’t something that panicked me as a later road would (my worst nightmare…yet to be told).

I eventually made it into Xiangcheng at around 10pm, parked and asked about a guesthouse and was led further into the city near the main square. I stepped off the bike, went into another store and asked about the guesthouse when I saw a white guy pass buy – a backpacker.

“HEY. You there….are you going to a guesthouse right now?” I said.
“I’m looking for one now.” He says in a voice only a Brit can have.
“Cool. Me too. I speak Chinese so let’s look together.”
I adopted the traveler and we soon found a spot, put away our belongings and went for a bowl of late night noodles while sharing stories that..well, only vagabonds could share.

‘Twas a fine finale to the 200+km journey.

Snickers boy....and bar:


That's the way I do it!

Before Snicker's bar:



After the sugar rush:



They smiled on the next one but it was too overexposed. Nice boys.....but they had fun rummaging through my bag when I walked away to shoot something (but I had eyes in the back of my heads and knew this anyway).




I will never forget this place. It's where the gravel/pitted road stopped. Yeeehaw...!



Road from Xiangcheng to Litang:


Just fantastic...


Hua Jiang. As lethal as an atomic bomb in my book.


Rain coming in.....and rough road already here.




Boulderland


Sun is goin' downtown.


Helmet cam!


Cute bunny time!


Being a poser. Self-portrait.


Xiangcheng pup


Sweet-Sichuan-Mother-of-Fire this was fukkin hot. Not only do they marinate it in spicy hot pot ....because it's not enough, they take it out and dip it in the more fiery sauce every known to man.


My darling sister in Litang. Came to visit me daily...


Lightning storm on the way to Ganze. THis kinda sucked. I was scared. But when I saw people just walking casually with their herds through the rain I felt a little more comforted.


Tibetan.


Nope. Not an Italian Mob scene. This is a Sky Burial ceremony done in Litang. Was just fantastic to observe. Due to hard (iced/snowed) ground in Tibet and the lack of wood at high elevations, they have a tradition of cutting up the deceased's body to feed to birds and thus having their loved ones "carried" to the heavens in a symbolic way.


Caterpillar fungus traders:


Packing up to leave (Litang):


Snakecharmers...


One of the bigger issues no one seemed to be able to fix. The area around the axle...got it fixed in Litang and it kept breaking.


Sky burial in LItang:

[slabo]

For the 100th time you have to hear it again:: Thank you for sharing. I have a feeling this kinda stays in your blood for sometime, I the memories I mean. Damn withdrawal symptoms.

You experienced cultures and mountains that are fast disappearing. Their isolation is what makes them so .. them, can't find a better word.. All these trucks that were out to kill you, were actually just doing their part to develop the west further. More roads, highways, railways, shopping malls... now we log on to MCM to find roads through these remote areas, soon we'll be posting here to find ways to escape the highways, to find the last remote village, to find the last un-dammed river (such a word only makes sense here).. China must grow larger, so they say.. at what cost, we'll find out later ..

[MeowZeDong]

Hey, that was an awesome comment. I agree.....I kept thinking of this same thing during the ride as I noticed all the development.

Thanks for your thoughts. And sorry for all the typos. I'm actually going to redo what I wrote right now because I found a journal entry from that day that describes my ride and my thoughts better.

Safe riding...

[bigdamo]

Great story telling and photo's.

[MeowZeDong]

Hey Damo - thank you, thank you. I took the photo off. I don't want it it prevent me from being able to enter the country again. I am thinking of making a move out to China now! Excited! XinJiang, Mongolia explorations is definitely a dream I'm going to see through. Hopefully on a better bike though. I may just buy one so if people have suggestions and know of anyone selling, please let me know - and hopefully it's in great or new condition.

[CrazyCarl]

I friggin love boulderland!!! It's about 90kms of the best high altitude crazyness around and probably a lot of fun to backpack

The whole plateau you crossed before getting to Litang was once the ocean floor that uplifted to 4500m and then eventually got covered in glaciers. The glaciers dragged those massive boulders around and put them in all kinds of whacked out places. You were lucky to go through there with such nice weather.

In 2008 a couple from Australia went through that pass and has to spend the night in a snow storm at 4600m before reaching Litang. Snow was so deep, it was over the axles. Can you say sleeping bags and good tent???

Did you see the Rabbit Ear Mountain (TuEr Shan) on that road?

CC

[bigdamo]

Hey Damo - thank you, thank you. I took the photo off. I don't want it it prevent me from being able to enter the country again. I am thinking of making a move out to China now! Excited! XinJiang, Mongolia explorations is definitely a dream I'm going to see through. Hopefully on a better bike though. I may just buy one so if people have suggestions and know of anyone selling, please let me know - and hopefully it's in great or new condition.

Don't leave your travels to Xinjiang to late it is changing fast.My favorite little town population 500k is getting more apartments and factories built by the month taking away farms to provide the land.Don't they know they need the farms to feed the people?